News from the Department of Environmental Services

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: September 10, 2012 CONTACT: Dan Mattaini, (603) 271­8867 des.nh.gov twitter.com/NHDES State Announces Its 2012 Fall Drawdown of Lakes

Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) announced today that the annual fall drawdown of the lakes and ponds controlled by dams owned by DES will be initiated according to the schedule below.

DEPTH (in feet) LAKE TOWN START FROM FULL DATE Angle Pond Bartlett Brook Sandown Oct. 08 2’ Akers Pond Greenough Brook Errol Oct. 08 1’ Ayers Lake Tributary to Barrington Oct. 20 3’ Ballard Pond 1 Taylor Brook Derry Oct. 08 9.7’ Barnstead Parade Barnstead Oct. 08 1.5’ Bow Lake2 Isinglass River Strafford Oct. 08 8’ Burns Lake Tributary to Johns River Whitefield Oct. 08 1.5’ Chesham Pond Minnewawa Brook Harrisville Oct. 08 4’ to 2’ Crystal Lake Crystal Lake Brook Enfield Oct. 08 4’ Crystal Lake Suncook River Gilmanton Oct. 08 3’ Deering Oct. 08 4’ East Washington Washington Oct. 08 2’ Pond Glen Lake/Greggs Piscataquog River Goffstown Oct. 27 1.5’ Falls Goose Pond Goose Pond Brook Canaan Oct. 08 7.5’ Bicknell Brook Grafton Oct. 08 2’ Great East Lake Wakefield Oct. 1 3’ Great Pond Kingston Oct. 08 1’ Highland Lake North Branch Stoddard Oct. 08 3’ Horace Lake (aka Piscataquog River Weare Oct. 13 5’ ) Horn Pond Salmon Falls River Wakefield Oct. 1 1.5’ Howe Reservoir Tributary to Minnewawa Brook Dublin Oct. 08 6’ Island Pond North Branch Contoocook River Stoddard Oct. 08 3’ Tributary to Moultonboro Nov. 1 1.5’ Kezar Lake Sutton Sept. 30 2’ Kingswood Lake Churchill Brook Brookfield Oct. 08 4’ Little Sunapee Lake Kidder Brook Sunapee Oct. 15 1’ Lovell Lake 3 Branch River Wakefield Oct. 08 4’ 4 Lebanon Oct. 08 3’ Mendums Pond Little River Nottingham Nov. 9 7’ Milton Three Ponds 4 Salmon Falls River Milton Oct. 08 3’ 4 Newfound River Bristol Oct. 08 2.5’ Nay Pond Dead River Milan Sept. 30 7.5” Nippo Pond Nippo Brook Barrington Oct. 08 2’ North River Pond North River Nottingham Oct. 08 1’ Epsom Oct. 08 6’ Ossipee Lake4 Effingham Oct. 08 3.25’ Pawtuckaway Lake Nottingham Oct. 08 7’ Opechee Lake Laconia Oct. 08 5’ Pequawket Lake Tributary to Swift River Conway Nov. 1 2’ Pine River Pond Pine River Wakefield Oct. 08 8’ Pittsfield Mills 5 Suncook River Pittsfield Oct. 08 12’ Pleasant Lake Tributary to Little Suncook River Deerfield Oct. 08 3’ Rob Reservoir North Branch Contoocook River Stoddard Oct. 08 2’ Sawyer Lake Badger Brook Gilmanton Oct. 08 3’ Shellcamp Pond 6 Academy Brook Gilmanton Oct. 08 4’ Silver Lake Minnewawa Brook Harrisville Oct. 08 3’ 4 Ashland Oct. 08 2.5’ Sunapee Lake Sugar River Sunapee Oct. 08 2.5’ Suncook River Barnstead Oct. 1 5’ Sunrise Lake Dames Brook Middleton Oct. 17 2’ Sunset Lake Suncook River Alton Oct. 08 7’ Trickling Falls Powwow River East Nov. 1 1’ Kingston Webster Lake Chance Brook Franklin Oct. 08 2’ Winnisquam Lake Winnipesaukee River Belmont Oct. 08 2’

1. Ballard Pond – a deeper drawdown is being done this year to allow for repairs to be made at the dam. 2. Bow Lake – The Pointe Trinity Association has requested a deeper drawdown for one year only to repair their boat ramp. Next year the drawdown depth will return to 2’. 3. Lovell Lake – every 4 years the drawdown is deeper, to 4’. Next year, the drawdown will return to the normal depth of 3 feet. 4. These larger lakes generally do not reach their full drawdowns late fall or March. The values above are generally the maximum levels reached, although during any given year the levels reached can be either higher or lower due to weather conditions. 5. Pittsfield Mills – special drawdown to clear blocked gate. 6. Shellcamp – will be drawn down 4’ this year only at the request of the lake association. The usual drawdown is 2’.

The depth of drawdown listed above is not from the current level, but is from the normal full pond level. Since the hydrologic conditions and recreational uses of these water bodies vary, the degree and date of the start of drawdown for each lake vary and could be affected by the amount of rainfall during the period. In addition, the actual date at which the drawdown will begin could vary by a few days based on operational constraints. However, at three dams, the drawdowns will be initiated on a specific Saturday in October to provide recreational opportunities for canoeists and kayakers in the below these dams. The schedule for these recreational opportunities is as follows:

• On September 29 th, approximately 250 cubic feet per second (cfs) will be released into the Suncook River from the Suncook Lake Dam in Barnstead. This release rate will be curtailed at the end of the day, and the lake level held to its usual elevation until the drawdown is resumed on the date listed above. • On October 13 th, approximately 450 cubic feet per second (cfs) will be released into the North Branch of the Piscataquog River from the Horace Lake Dam in Weare. • On October 20 th, approximately 250 to 300 cubic feet per second (cfs) will be released into the Little Suncook River from the Northwood Lake Dam in Epsom.

These special releases will start at or near 8 AM for the dates specified above, and will be reduced to near normal levels by 4 PM that same day. DES reminds people that canoeing and kayaking have inherent risks, and paddling the state’s lakes and rivers is at the paddler’s own risk.

Lake drawdowns are conducted each fall to reduce winter ice damage to shoreline properties and to reduce spring flooding. Drawdowns also give property owners an opportunity to conduct any necessary repairs to their waterfront property, provided they first secure a permit from the DES Wetlands Bureau at (603) 271­2147.

Generally, lake levels are allowed to return to the normal full pond level in the spring. However, Chesham Pond is lowered by 4 feet starting after Columbus Day for a period of 6 to 8 weeks and the level is brought up to 2 feet below the normal full pond level for the remainder of winter. In addition, the drawdowns of Opechee and Winnisquam Lakes, which occur on a two­year interval, last only approximately two weeks. This year, the lowering of Opechee Lake will begin on October 9 th, and it will likely take two days to pass the water from Opechee Lake downstream through Winnisquam Lake. Therefore, the level of Winnisquam Lake is not expected to drop noticeably until October 11 th. On October 23 rd flows at Lakeport Dam will be increased to refill Opechee Lake, and the level of Winnisquam Lake should begin to rise late in the day on October 24 th.

Not included in this schedule is Lake Winnipesaukee. Unlike the other lakes in this schedule, Lake Winnipesaukee is not purposely drawn down in the fall. Instead, each year on Columbus Day, the releases from Lakeport Dam are reduced from a normal minimum of 250 cubic feet per second (cfs) to a flow between 30 and 50 cfs for a period of up to two weeks to allow for maintenance of the dams and hydropower facilities on the Winnipesaukee River. The flow of 30 to 50 cfs is the minimum flow needed to maintain the downstream aquatic life during this period.

By the middle of the fall, Lake Winnipesaukee is, on average, 15 inches below its springtime full level due to evaporation and releases from the lake that have occurred over the course of the summer. As a result of the reduction in the amount of water released from the dam after Columbus Day, the lake level does not drop for the remainder of the month of October and is generally maintained at this level through the month of December. Depending on the amount of snow on the ground in the winter, the lake level may be lowered further beginning in January to a depth of two feet below the normal full level.

A plot of the average lake levels throughout the year for Lake Winnipesaukee is provided on DES’s website at http://des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/dam/winni_levels/index.htm. Also included are updated plots of this year’s lake levels, releases from the dam, and precipitation.

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